The Hold Steady stays positive in Seattle

The genius of The Hold Steady has always been their ability to marry unabashed enthusiasm for rock and roll – from synchronized guitar solos to calls to the audience to clap along to songs – with lyrical intelligence and irony.

Bad cell phone picture of The Hold Steady at the Showbox

An enthusiastic, near-capacity crowd at The Showbox at the Market Wednesday night saw the band in top form. They ran through a two-hour set with hardly any breaks.

For this tour the band has added a third guitarist (perhaps influenced by one-time tour mates Drive-by Truckers), which made the sound that much fuller and allowed for some well-received pyrotechnics between Tad Kubler and new man Steve Selvidge. Original keyboardist Franz Nicolay left the band earlier this year; his seat was ably filled Wednesday by Dan Neustadt.

Frontman Craig Finn, who has always seemed like a hipster Bruce Springsteen who just mainlined Paul Westerberg, also didn’t disappoint as the band played material stretching from their first album – “Almost Killed Me” to their latest, the well-received “Hurricane J.” The band plays Vancouver Thursday night and Portland on Friday.